I am so grateful to have a store like Whole Foods nearby where I can purchase relatively fresh organic produce and other groceries. My preference though is to shop at the Farmer’s Market on Sundays at the civic center (where I run into a lot of you). I also LOVE my bananas and mangos even if they’re not local! This month I’m sharing things for you to be aware of while grocery shopping! Whether you shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or Safeway, consider the following information before you put something in your shopping cart!Avoid GMOs like the Plague Learn the truths, myths and hazards of genetically modified foods (GMOs). These are modified crops that are made to tolerate the highly toxic glyphosate pesticide (Monsanto’s Round Up) that is polluting our planet and our bodies. GMOs also can have one species’ genes inserted into another species to give it a certain trait. For example, cold water fish genes are injected into tomatoes to make them more resistant to cold weather. This is highly unnatural and has not been properly tested. I highly advise against eating GMOs. More than any other substances avoid them like the plague. More and more foods and products are being genetically engineered or contain genetically engineered ingredients, often deceptively hidden in alternative forms.

Here are eight of the most common GMOs:

Alfalfa

Canola

Corn

Cotton

Papaya

Soy

Sugar Beets

Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash

In regards to corn, and GMO corn - whenever you see corn that is not labeled organic or non-GMO Verified, assume it’s GMO corn – including corn on the cob, corn at a salad bar, corn tortillas at a restaurant or packaged, corn in a salad, corn oil, corn syrup, corn anything! Ask farmers at outdoor markets if their corn is non-GMO.

The same thinking must be put towards canola (canola oil is cheaper than olive oil, but it’s not healthy and isn’t part of a natural diet for humans), soy (soy isolate, soy oil, soy lecithin, etc.) cotton (cottonseed oil) and sugar beets (sugar!).

Hawaiian papayas have been genetically modified - so again, if they’re not organic I wouldn’t advise grabbing them at the market. I rarely, if ever, see organic papayas even at Novato Whole Foods but they do have organic ones at the Good Earth in Fairfax.

If you thought everything at Whole Foods is safe and natural, think again.

Whole Foods sells a large amount of GMO foods, not only the non-organic produce items like corn and papaya, but a large portion of their 365 brand or other brands of processed products that aren’t organic use canola oil, or soy, corn, or sugar. Check ingredient lists.

On Whole Foods website, they say, “Whole Foods Market currently sells 3,300 Non-GMO Project verified products from 250 brands, more than any other retailer in North America.” They say they have many non-GMO Verified products, more and more all the time. But what use is a non-GMO label on a package of frozen blueberries? Blueberries haven’t been genetically modified… The numbers are misleading.

At Whole Food’s deli case, hot soup and prepared food area; and salad bar you will also find an array of soups and hot dishes that contain canola oil, soy oil, and corn products – and it’s likely all GMO. It’s so disappointing!

Ninety percent of Americans want what consumers in more than 60 other countries already have, mandatory labeling laws or bans on GMOs.

After public pressure in response to the California Label GMO initiative (Prop 37, which failed by a small percentage of votes) Whole Foods agreed to label all their GMO products, but not until 2018. Even Target is doing better than that; their new line called “Simply Balanced” which is about half organic will be GMO-free by 2014. Currently, Chipotle fast food restaurant is already labeling GMOs, check out the menu on their website!

If you would like to have more ready-to-eat options at our local Whole Foods that do not contain GMO ingredients (this is as easy as eliminating a few things like canola oil or soy oil), consider writing them a request, they make it easy to do so. If enough of us who would appreciate better quality items request them, they might start providing better options. I think Whole Foods, in principle, should not have any GMO products.

If you have questions, include them below and I will do my best to answer them!

Stay tuned, next month I continue with the second article of a 4 part series on healthy grocery shopping.

Hi Alix. Because there are no mandatory GMO labeling laws in California yet, NO ONE can guarantee a conventionally grown crop (corn, soy, canola, etc.) is NOT genetically modified. How would they know? The only way to be safe is to only eat organic (at least for common GMO foods as mentioned). The employees are Whole Foods are not well informed, unfortunately.

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Whitney

6/26/2013 06:51:38 am

Thanks so much for this article, Ronit! It's helpful to have this information to make sense of it all. I look forward to the rest in the series! Whitney

I left a request comment on the bulletin board at Novato Whole Foods today asking for all their soups to be free of canola oil because I like to eat hot soup sometimes and don't want the GMOs. Now is a good time to pop in the store and leave a similar request! Change by numbers!

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Author

Ronit Gesundheit is owner of Community Acupuncture of Marin.

She is an acupuncturist, herbalist, life coach, and detoxification specialist.

Ronit teaches people about self-love and embracing all that arises in life in her writing and private sessions. Ronit is also a world traveler, loves music, dancing, singing, and sharing intimately with friends. She learns languages for fun.

Our guest authors are all acupuncturists at the clinic or within our community of helpers and healers.

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